Fewer Retailers Closing

March 21, 2011byDaniel Ford

Far fewer retailers closed in last year’s fourth quarter than
the year before, the International Council of Shopping Centers announced March 17.

The group noted that the number of closure announcements for
GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture and other) retailers in the final
quarter of 2010 was 53 percent lower than the final quarter of 2009.

The numbers “suggest that the severe contraction by
retailers may be subsiding,” said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist
and director of research.